Have you contacted your supervisor? They may be able to help add a bit of pressure. You shouldn't be left in this position, especially running up bank charges.

My university was very experienced with handling research council fees, including AHRC who funded me. But I still had a mix-up, where I tried to matriculate one year, and there was a debt marked on my account because my previous batch of fees had apparently not been paid. Oh yes they had, I checked when and everything with the funding council. But I still couldn't matriculate, until Registry put me through manually. Thank goodness that was in my final year, so I didn't have to go through it again :)

Glad it went well. I can't remember my first time (ooh err!) cos it was so long ago, nearly 7 years since I started my 6-year part-time PhD. Also to complicate matters I'd been working for my new sup as a Research Assistant before starting the PhD, so things kind of blended. But taking notes is a very good idea. I used to email minutes to my sup. It took me ages to come forward with my opinion more though. I was happier to listen and ponder things, especially in the early stages.

If you are seriously depressed you need to get professional help. Does your university offer a counselling service? If so consider using this. Also you could go to see your family doctor.

I hit a very low patch half-way through my part-time PhD, due to coping with life-threatening illness. Actually the counsellors couldn't relate to what I was going through. I got more help from the university chaplain, who was used to life and death situations. This was despite me being an agnostic and a chaplain the last person I'd normally go to! And I got help from my GP to cope with related anxiety, taking anti-depressant medicine which has made a big difference to me.

Do you have a second supervisor you can talk to about your PhD and ask to read your paper? If so use this opportunity.

Good luck.

It's never too late to quit. As someone who has quit one PhD (though for other reasons, due to developing a serious neurological illness) in the past I think the easy thing is often to keep going. The hard decision can be to quit. But it can be the right decision.

You mustn't feel bad about letting your supervisor and department down. You need to do what's right for you. If you quit after a year it's not too hard to explain that away on CVs as well. So that's worth thinking about.

What would you like to do instead? Would thinking about that help clarify the options. Also drawing up a list of pros and cons can help as well.

But don't stay because of guilt.

Good luck.

I'd go with (b), but with the proviso that your discussion towards the end of the thesis will have to be suitably detailed to cover the new studies in-depth, as if you'd covered them back in your literature review all those years ago. Compare/contrast your findings with theirs, and above all stress why your contribution is worthwhile and your study has been worth doing.

You definitely can't avoid facing up to these new papers, and you shouldn't try to rewrite your old literature review (which founded the basis for years of subsequent work).

So go with (b) :)

Congratulations! Really pleased for you :)

Good luck for tomorrow! Sounds as though you are in a good head-space and ready for it :)

Yes I agree: arrange an extension. It should be readily granted in the circumstances.

So sorry to hear your news Sue. Sending you best wishes.

I think it's a reasonable question. If I was in your position I'd ask it.

In the UK anyway it's normal to do a Masters first, either standalone or as an integrated part of a 1+3 funded Masters+PhD arrangement. The Masters degree teaches you how to be a researcher. Or at least how to start being a researcher. Doing a PhD teaches you more about this, so you keep learning as you go along.

As you go through the process you take more control of your project and become more of an independent researcher. It's an ongoing learning process. You don't need to know everything going in.

Does this help?

I've lived with my husband since I was 22 and newly married. I started a full-time science PhD shortly after then, back in the mid 1990s. More recently my part-time history PhD has been completed with me still happily with my husband. No kids. I'm now in my late 30s.

Fab! Just the news I wanted to hear before heading out :) Well done you. Delighted for you.

Wooh! Well done you! :)

This is normal, but don't expect to run before you learn to walk, or rather crawl in this case! It's a steep learning curve. Your MRes lectures will teach you a lot about research. So allow yourself time.

Just take it one small step at a time. Don't worry too far ahead. You'll be fine :)

What do you mean by retrospectively? I don't think you ever could apply retrospectively for AHRC funding. You can only apply for a future date. But when I applied, back in 2004, it was possible to start a PhD, self-funding, and apply for AHRC funding to cover the remaining years.

That's what I did. I self-funded my first year, applied to AHRC part-way through, and won funding for the rest of my PhD.

Maybe you should contact AHRC to see what they say? You can find their contact details at their website http://www.ahrc.ac.uk

Good luck!